Junior Sister, You Never Asked Whether I'd Broken Through Either

Su Wanqing placed the Rosy Cloudfire Fruit directly in Xiao Chen's hand. "Of course I've already eaten one. This thing only has its best effect the first time you eat it."

"And in a few months, something major will happen. It's not convenient for me to explain the specifics right now."

"In any case, take the Spirit Fruit first, Senior Brother. You'll definitely thank me when the time comes."

Sure enough, the Su Family had received the news as well.

"If that's the case, I happen to have a jug of Spirit Wine here. It also has its best effect only the first time you drink it."

With a wave of his hand, Xiao Chen took out the Moon Reflecting Wine. "I'll accept the Spirit Fruit, but I won't take it for nothing. I'll give Junior Sister a jug of wine instead."

Su Wanqing lightly furrowed her brows at this.

She did not particularly want to exchange one item for another.

On the contrary, she hoped Xiao Chen would simply accept the Spirit Fruit, then owe her a favor when he learned the truth three months later.

Su Wanqing chuckled and declined. "Oh dear, but I don't like drinking."

Although Xiao Chen wanted the Rosy Cloudfire Fruit as well, he already had a spell to counter Fire Qi. He did not want to owe another favor, lest it become difficult to repay in the future.

So he reached out and handed the Spirit Fruit back to her. "Since Junior Sister doesn't like it, then forget it."

"Senior Brother, you're really no fun." Su Wanqing snatched the wine jug away. "But I have an older brother at home who likes drinking, so I'll reluctantly accept the wine on his behalf."

Excellent. He had traded some idle wine for a Spirit Fruit. Xiao Chen was quite pleased with this deal.

After putting away the Spirit Fruit, the two sat back down and chatted for a few more moments.

Seeing that it was already late, Xiao Chen reminded her, "Junior Sister, it's getting late. I barely cultivated at all today, so I should make the most of my time and cultivate."

Su Wanqing was stunned. "It's the Lantern Festival, and Senior Brother is actually going to cultivate tonight?"

Then she seemed to suddenly think of something and burst into laughter.

Afterward, she spoke in a grave, earnest tone to comfort him. "Senior Brother, don't put too much pressure on yourself just because I broke through. Even if you push yourself this hard..."

Xiao Chen said nothing and directly released the aura of his cultivation.

"Qi Refining Layer Eight!"

Su Wanqing instantly leaped to her feet, like a cat whose tail had been accidentally stepped on.

"Y-you..."

Remembering how she had stood there with her hands on her hips, showing off, as well as the comforting words she had just said, Su Wanqing felt her face burn fiercely.

Even her slender neck had flushed pink. "Senior Brother, when did you break through again? Why didn't you tell me?"

Xiao Chen spread his hands. "Junior Sister, you never asked whether I'd broken through."

I'm finished!

Hearing those somewhat familiar words, Su Wanqing immediately felt darkness cloud her vision.

This time, not only had she failed to show off in front of Xiao Chen, she had even made a fool of herself before him.

He must have been secretly laughing inside earlier. He definitely had!

She pointed at Xiao Chen. "You did this on purpose, just to watch me embarrass myself... I'm ignoring you! Goodbye!"

With that, she rushed out the door and vanished in a flash.

After leaving Azure Water Peak, Su Wanqing calmed herself down. She had no mood to visit the lantern fair anymore and headed straight home.

After her Cultivation Breakthrough, she had originally relaxed a little.

The dark clouds brought by the many troubling matters within the Su Family had also dispersed somewhat in the joy of her breakthrough.

But honestly, seeing Xiao Chen break through another Minor Realm so quickly made Su Wanqing's heart tighten again.

His cultivation speed was simply too fast!

Although Su Wanqing could not understand at all why Xiao Chen seemed to have no bottlenecks when cultivating, at this rate, Foundation Establishment absolutely would not stop him.

With a Heaven-Grade Technique, once Xiao Chen successfully reached Foundation Establishment, he would surely stand head and shoulders above the rest among Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

For the moment, it seemed that only the Chen Family and she herself had been actively approaching Xiao Chen.

But that was because the other families had not yet guessed Xiao Chen's true strength, and because they disdained competing with the Chen Family for him.

There was no need to wait until after Foundation Establishment. As long as Xiao Chen broke through to the Qi Refining Ninth Layer within this year, everyone would realize his extraordinary potential.

The Song Family and Liu Family would certainly show goodwill and try to win Xiao Chen over, just as they had acted early in the past to recruit every potential Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

Perhaps only the Jiang Family had reached the point where spilled water could never be gathered again.

A sense of crisis arose in Su Wanqing. No, I have to settle him as soon as possible, lest new complications arise.

Whether she used benefits to win him over or favors to bind him, she had to tie Xiao Chen to herself as quickly as possible. That way, she would gain another powerful Dao Protector to deal with the family crisis in the future.

Fortunately, after the new year, she would be able to become an Inner Sect Disciple.

Then she could directly join Azure Water Peak and move over to become Xiao Chen's neighbor.

By then, they would see each other every day, whether looking down or looking up. Naturally, there would be more chances to interact. She refused to believe she could not win him over.

Back in the Su Family Backyard.

"Hey, Third Sister, you're too kind. Why did you even bring me wine?"

Su Yuanpeng had been studying a new spell when he saw Su Wanqing enter the inner courtyard carrying a jug of wine.

Su Wanqing had not lied before. Su Yuanpeng truly loved drinking Spirit Wine, especially the kinds that could help temper the body.

But she slapped away the paw he reached out with. "Get lost! This wine isn't for you."

Su Yuanpeng was stunned. "Third Sister, you've changed. You never liked drinking before."

Then he thought of something. Could it be that Su Wanqing had gotten hold of some exceptionally precious Spirit Wine?

With that thought, Su Yuanpeng immediately trotted after Su Wanqing.

The two entered the Side Room and sat down together. Su Yuanpeng rubbed his hands. "Third Sister, let me take a look. What good stuff have you gotten this time?"

"Don't worry, I'm only satisfying my eyes. I won't steal it from you."

Su Wanqing truly did not know much about Spirit Wine, but she knew that since Xiao Chen had used this wine to trade for a Spirit Fruit, the two items should be roughly equal in value.

However, she had left in too much of a hurry and had not had time to ask what kind of wine it was.

That was why she had deliberately brought the bottle over, wanting Su Yuanpeng to help identify it.

Su Yuanpeng examined the wine bottle on the table and immediately noticed the image of the moon reflected in a spring on its body.

He slapped the table. "Third Sister, you've been duped! This is fake wine!"

"Impossible!" Su Wanqing carefully examined the wine bottle. "This wine was... In any case, it can't be fake wine. Second Brother, take another careful look. Don't mistake it."

But Su Yuanpeng shook his head with a dark expression. "Sigh, there's no need to look. This is obviously one of that batch of fake Moon Reflecting Wine that appeared before the new year."

Indignantly, he picked up the wine jug. "Who sold this to you? Come on, let's go demand an explanation from him."

"Impossible, this wine was clearly..."

Halfway through her words, Su Wanqing suddenly snatched back the wine jug. "Oh, I get it. You're trying to trick me out of my wine. I'm getting angry now."

"I really wasn't lying to you." Su Yuanpeng looked deeply aggrieved. "Third Sister, you don't care about this sort of thing, but you must have heard about the joke when the Branch Lineage came to pay New Year's calls a few days ago, right?"

Su Wanqing immediately frowned upon hearing this.

A few days ago, a distant junior member of the Su Family had come to offer New Year's greetings and brought a jug of Spirit Wine as a gift. It had turned out to be fake wine when they drank it, creating a huge joke.

Su Yuanpeng pointed at the moon-in-the-spring image. "This pattern is the mark of Spring Province Moon Reflection wine. Before the new year, a batch of fake wine suddenly appeared in the marketplace and deceived a lot of people."

"Two of my drinking companions got fooled too. I even helped them go settle accounts with the stall owner."

"But that stall owner was alert, and he ran fast. He only sold for two days before going into hiding, and he hasn't shown his face since."

Seeing how certain Su Yuanpeng sounded, Su Wanqing could not help wavering.

Yet she was still half-believing, half-doubting. "Can you really say it's fake just from this pattern? Couldn't there be even one genuine bottle?"

Su Yuanpeng snorted. "Hmph, Quanzhou has fallen for so long already. Genuine Moon Reflecting Wine has long been out of stock. This is not something sold to the public."

He emphasized each word. "Only the Reflecting Moon Immortal Sect can produce Moon Reflecting Wine."

"Even if rumors say the wine vault was looted and some wine was lost, how could it possibly be so coincidental that it ended up here?"

But Su Wanqing's eyes lit up. "So that means some genuine Moon Reflecting Wine does exist, right?"